Only eight reviews left. I'm both thrilled and more than a little sad to be this close to the end.

Mother Riley Meets The Vampire / Vampire Over London (1952)



I'm not proud of the fact that I adore this film. By all rights, this should have been the ultimate embarrassment of Bela's career, pairing him with a stale drag comedy act in a production he allegedly only signed on to in order to pay for airfare home from the UK. What I didn't realize until doing background research for this review was that Bela wasn't the only one at the tail end of his career here. Arthur Lucan (Mother Riley) had now been playing the role for two decades, the frequency of film releases had slowed down significantly, and he had just divorced his co-star and business partner. This would be his final film. Perhaps that's why the script seems to have such love for both characters, treating them warmly and not just playing them for stale gags. This is a genuinely cute film that genuinely understands what is adorable and endearing about both the Mother Riley character and Bela Lugosi.



Plot (0-5 points): It's cute, silly, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, and the script writer seems to have a true affinity for Bela. The role he plays compounds so many of his acting roles into one villain who is a vampire, a mad scientist, a foreign agent working on weapons he intends to sell to enemies, and a benign old man all while commanding an evil robot. That pretty much captures 90% of Bela's acting career in one single role. 3/5

Atmosphere (0-5 points): Good sets and lighting. A very convincing robot! 4/5

Other Actors (0-3 points): Mother Riley may come off as obnoxious at first (I really could have done without that musical number in the first scene), but she/he is adorable and truly likable throughout the rest of the film, even when the comedy isn't landing. 2/3

The Lugosi Factor (0-10 points): There's no real opportunity for Bela to reach or try something new when he's playing a role that is an homage to so much of his career, but he shines brightest when sharing the screen with Mother Riley. For whatever absurd reason, this character sheds his evil and his ambitions because he has affection for the character, and it's truly adorable to watch. There is absolutely no reason for Bela's character to lend her such kindness (even if her blood type is what he needs for his experiment), but it allows Bela to show his genuine charm where one was simply expecting your standard Lugosi villain. It's a truly nice showcase for Bela. 8/10

Overall: Often a source of perverse amusement or shame for fans of Bela, I truly think this one is an unsung high point in Bela's later career. If you really love Bela for his warmth and personality, this is a film that showcases that quality in spades, all while savoring the sharp contrast against Bela's more familiar roles and characterizations. 17/23

I've never seen a Mother Riley somehow. I remember Ma and Pa Kettle movies, and Moms Mabley, but I guess that's not much help.

Just watched Ed Wood (1994) for the first time in anticipation of re-watching the Ed Wood trilogy for these reviews. I have to say that, as endearing a performance as Martin Landau gave as Bela, I feel the film generally did him a disservice and appealed more to Hollywood stereotypes than the truth, presenting Bela as a hopeless junkie with one and a half feet in the grave. Obviously, I have a bias in all of this, but I immediately went back to watch segments of Glen or Glenda and Bride of the Monster, and no, Bela does not look THAT old and dilapidated, and his voice and inflection are always tightly controlled, whereas Landau presents more of a lazy inflection. No one will ever know the full truth of Bela's addiction issues, but we do know he was on Methadone in an effort to kick his morphine addiction on his own, that his wife had tried numerous times to help him quit, and that (so far as I know), he left his treatment center having genuinely recovered (the film presents it as a con on the part of Ed Wood because Bela could not pay the medical fees). Even the times when Bela asserts that he only takes on these roles because he liked Ed Wood so much, we know Bela took on pretty much ANY role because he needed the money and loved to perform. So I take issue with how much of a joke the film made of Bela and his life, even if it also presented him endearingly. Bela was a man of tremendous grace and control, and presenting him as the total opposite of that feels like a bit of an insult to the man and his legacy.

It’s been a while since I saw Mother Riley Meets the Vampire. My friend who is also a big Lugosi fan had it on VHS and I asked if we could watch it. He was rather reluctant ... and I remember understanding why after a few minutes. I also remember looking at him with my mouth open and a look on my face that made him say “I have no idea what that means, I have rewound that dialogue a bunch of times.” But the details escape me.
So I won’t be trying to convince you of anything. The way I remember this movie, I’m of the opinion that you’re too far gone and there is no hope. 🤪
But then again I saw it a long time ago and maybe I’ve seen enough old British films that Mother Riley Meets the Vampire might make more sense to me. Have you ever seen a British film circa 1940 titled Ghost Train!? It’s a HOOT and a HALF!

Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla (1952)



I may have been surprisingly enthusiastic about Mother Riley last time around, and I may not have minded Brown and Carney, but I draw the line at Mitchell and Petrillo, an insultingly unoriginal theft of Martin and Lewis that isn't even close to being in the same ballpark. Petrillo alternates between obnoxious and surprisingly endearing, but he's never ever funny, and Mitchell is just godawful to the point that I can't decide which is worse: his acting or his crooning. When they've got him in an ape suit for the last twenty minutes of the film, I find the whole thing a lot more tolerable.


Plot (0-5 points): Every joke is stolen, and the plot is utterly derivative and absurd. 0/5

Atmosphere (0-5 points): Surprisingly excellent lighting, but that's pretty much the only positive. Nothing else looks especially low budget, but it certainly isn't high budget nor meticulous either. 2/5

Other Actors (0-3 points): Duke Mitchell hurts my soul. No one else in this film is worth a damn either, except maybe Ramona the chimp. Petrillo would be adequate if he weren't just a blatant rip-off of Jerry Lewis. -1/3

The Lugosi Factor (0-10 points): he is so tired and worn out that it almost hurts to see him in this one, and yet he still gives a first class effort in most scenes. At times, if you can look past the drained-of-life look he bares so tragically, he's almost playing Murder Legendre from White Zombie again. Even in scenes where he is off to the sides, and the camera barely notices him, he's giving it his all. There are only two scenes in the film where his acting is awkward and not on point, and I find it curious that both scenes have him walking across the set. Leg pains. Poor Bela. I truly cringe when he gets knocked over late in the film, and it isn't a stunt double. He looks genuinely scared and entirely too aware that it's coming. Yet, in spite of the pain and frailty, he gives this film his best. 7/10

Overall: This film didn't deserve him, but I'll take any opportunity to see Bela in one more film. I'm far too aware that there are far too few of them left. 8/23